Hope College women's tennis sweeps rival Calvin

After going undefeated in four outdoor matches on a spring trip to Florida, the Hope College women's tennis team on Saturday played its first outdoor match in Michigan. The Flying Dutch swept rival Calvin College 9-0 win over rival Calvin at Calvin's Strikwerda Tennis Center. ...

Hope swept the three doubles matches, then did the same in singles, all in straight sets, to improve to 7-1 for the season.

“We had four matches total (in Florida) and two that were against very good teams and we won 6-3 and 7-2 against those teams,” Hope first-year coach Adam Ford said. “Those two were real confidence-boosters because they were only two or three spots behind us in the regional rankings.

“(In Florida) we got used to playing in the wind and playing in the elements a little bit. Today there was a lot more wind and it was a little colder than it was in Florida, but it definitely showed that we're comfortable playing outdoors.”

Hope, which improved to 2-0 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, dealt with Calvin (2-8, 0-2 MIAA) the way a dominant team should have.

The last match to finish was at first singles. Hope's Carli Capestany was pushed a little bit in winning the first set 6-4, but the sophomore out of Hudsonville High School rolled past Calvin's Megan Visser 6-0 in the second set.

Hope is captained by two seniors, Leah LeBarge and Melissa Bieri (Holland Christian), who play fourth and fifth singles, respectively. Combined, they are 12-4 after Saturday's matches. And with sixth singles' player Andrea Pickelman, a junior, improving to 9-0 with her 6-3, 6-0 win over Courtney Selvius, the Flying Dutch have lots of experience at the bottom of the singles flights.

“I love the depth of our team because we have confidence all the way through the lineup,” Bieri said after her 6-3, 6-0 win over Elise Doezema. “Winning all three doubles matches is really good because when you go on the court for singles, you have confidence that you only have to win two more to win the match.”